Aleksandra Ilic

Name: 
Aleksandra Ilic
Nationality: 
Serbian
Project ID: 
ESR04
Bioavailability and species transformations of micronutrients in (bio)reactors used for resource recovery and water reuse
Short CV / biography: 

Trace elements are crucial constituents of cofactors and enzymes, and as such, they affect metabolism of microorganisms in anaerobic reactors. In practice, trace elements are often present in sufficient amounts, but their uptake by microorganism may be hindered by low bioavailability. The objective of this topic is to find a way to determine if trace metal deficiency is present in an anaerobic reactor and if so, which metal(s) and in which amount should be supplemented. This will be done by measuring bioavailable fraction of trace metals and finding a relation between the fraction and the activity of the biomass. Furthermore, the possible solutions for overcoming potential deficiencies will be proposed.

Short description of my topic: 

Trace elements are crucial constituents of cofactors and enzymes, and as such, they affect metabolism of microorganisms in anaerobic reactors. In practice, trace elements are often present in sufficient amounts, but their uptake by microorganism may be hindered by low bioavailability. The objective of this topic is to determine the trace elements deficiency in anaerobic membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment. Moreover, we will study also trace elements limitation in the post-treatment of anaerobic effluent, i.e. during nitrogen removal. The expected deficiencies will be determined in respect to metal bioavailability and speciation in both liquid and solid phase. Furthermore, the possible solutions for overcoming potential deficiencies will be proposed.

My progress / state of the art : 
  • Sequential extraction for fractionation of trace elements in anaerobic sludge sample
  • Setting up a sampling campaign and methodology for detection of trace elements present in AnMBR

  • - assessing and applying diffusive gradients in thin films (DGTs) as a novel tool for determination of bioavailable fraction of trace metals in digestate

 

 

 

 

 

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